6 hours ago, John_Cillis said:

To think the 737 is still around, a design almost as old as I am, and probably drawn up on paper rather than computers and tested in wind tunnels rather than computer wind tunneling. 

Back in 1979 if someone was to tell me that in 2019 the biggest selling aircraft was still going to be the 737, the biggest name in computers was still going to be Apple. No more Concorde or Space Shuttle as they were retired without a replacement, and the Soyuz was still heavily relied upon by everyone including the Americans (about to return to service), and American Cars would become lemons and no one wants them anymore when back in the 70s everyone dreamed of owning one. I would have thought that was crazy.  Not the future I was imagining. 

Edited August 1, 20196 yr by Matthew Kane

2 hours ago, Matthew Kane said:

..... Not the future I was imagining. 

I hear that completely, although for me I feel things are more the same as then as one would believe.   Why, because everything that is made boils down to the periodic table of elements, our imagination, and our ability to still think abstractly. which means someone has to help us anyway, we cannot do it alone.  The US especially, compared to the other countries I have been in abroad, is more comfort and material driven vs some other cultures, where people get together--I call that, to borrow a concept, middle earth.  In the US our mindset is like that of an ENT in Lord of the Rings--we see a need, or a crisis, but it takes us forever to circle our wagons and come to a decision while others in the rest of the world look to our wisdom, which we say we have, for help.

In Middle Earth, which I actually feel is many countries in the third world, they have the power to resist absolute power, like Bilbo Baggins did in resisting the ring during his long journies.  But they have "Grima Wormtongues" like the one in Lord of the Rings Rohan, who keep their leaders from getting the people to safety, instead trying to create palaces for themselves and raping the shire (which was left out of the movie but is in the book).  Finally there is the worst, those between the superpowers and the third world, that just live in innocent bliss in their countries and do not care about the superpowers, or what is happening in the third world.

I predict our world will eventually go like Lord of the Rings, very soon, we will enter a new age after some very specific and local, not worldwide crisis, is fought out and won.  There will be a great period of peace and prosperity, but like all some will get bored with it.  They will follow some new leader that inspires them to fight for their cause, ignoring the cause of those who are not bored.  Like sheep, or lemmings, they will follow that leader off of a cliff.

In all seriousness, what I describe happens in a micro scale all the time, every day, and a micro scale.

I am not as bothered about where things are made, I am more concerned about whether we will mature enough as a species to accept the "alien" ideas that come from those we have never seen before, giving them a chance to speak first, before we assassinate their ideas on site. 

I was told when I became a systems instructor that my students would size me up in thirty seconds.  Thirty seconds is not enough time to size someone up, but that is what we have been taught all our lives--rush for prosperity where we live, or some other place will be more prosperous, steal from us, and then eat us for dessert (Silence of the Lambs).

It is alien paranoia that caused our car industry to struggle, and the Concorde and Space Shuttle to be grounded, because we become so focused on keeping up with the scams coming from certain leaders abroad in governments and corporations, that we do not perfect what has already been proven to work well.

I am sure I am rambling, as I tend to do on my last message for the day, but I understand what I have written quite well, and it either offers hope for those who understand the message, or it does not, and I am fine with either response, because as long as the reader is not intoxicated with some philosophy, drink, or drug, they can make up their mind with free will.  Philosophy,  drink, or an occasional medicine to calm the nerves, in moderation, works wonders when intoxication is not involved, especially in aviation, like the Pilot in the Delta incident today.

John

10 hours ago, John_Cillis said:

I miss the old 737-200, for some reason it reminded me of the ME-262 with its long, low hung engines.

I've made this comparison in the past too in an Avsim review I seem to recall. I actually overlaid a screenshot of an Me262 and a 737-100 in Photoshop, and it is remarkable how close they are in almost every respect. Were it not for the triangular fuselage cross section of the 262 and its mid tail horizontal stabilsers, it would be pretty much an identical match for the 737-100, so much so in fact, that I genuinely do suspect the 737's designers at Boeing were indeed looking at the 262's general layout when they came up with their design.

On 7/31/2019 at 11:11 AM, rjfry said:

Ryanair in the news today hundreds of jobs to go over the 737MAX grounding and delays to fleet upgrade.

That's not just the max.

Problem is the Ryanair cadets normally leave Ryanair and then jump to BA / VS / EK/Jet2 or Norwegian when they have a few thousand hours.  Same with the easyjet l3 22 year old Instagram cadets too. They all jump to BA after a few years of orangeness

However With the industry as it is at the moment alot of crew are are staying put which has shafted Ryanair

As for the cabin crew, bit of the above, but also in winter they don't need as many.  Easyjet do the same with the cabin crew on the 10-3 contract (If they still do it?) when half the cabin crew end up in asda and tesco in Crawley for 3 months. 

I hope to dear God that Willy Walsh and Cruz have some balls and take away all the pilots staff travel and JSS bidding rights if they go ahead with that strike.  That what Branson would do. 

Those Nigels at BA don't know how lucky they are, arrogant [word not allowed] 11 percent over 3 years is a dream for most people but not for these prima donnas

Ryanair also lost quite a good deal of money last year on a bad fuel hedging decision apparently. Yes the MAX has caused airlines some problems, but it is easier for Ryanair to say 'because of the MAX, we're making redundancies' than 'because we took a guess on fuel prices rising a lot and bought tons of fuel,  then the price dropped and left us right in it, we'll have to ditch some staff' lol

On 8/1/2019 at 3:58 AM, fluffyflops said:

That's not just the max.

Problem is the Ryanair cadets normally leave Ryanair and then jump to BA / VS / EK/Jet2 or Norwegian when they have a few thousand hours.  Same with the easyjet l3 22 year old Instagram cadets too. They all jump to BA after a few years of orangeness

However With the industry as it is at the moment alot of crew are are staying put which has shafted Ryanair

As for the cabin crew, bit of the above, but also in winter they don't need as many.  Easyjet do the same with the cabin crew on the 10-3 contract (If they still do it?) when half the cabin crew end up in asda and tesco in Crawley for 3 months. 

 

I don't think 900 is just a few.

17 hours ago, John_Cillis said:

To think the 737 is still around, a design almost as old as I am, and probably drawn up on paper rather than computers and tested in wind tunnels rather than computer wind tunneling.

One of the things I like about the 737 is that it's both - a classic design from the early days of jet aircraft, yet a modern airliner and still the most popular one in the narrow-body market. Working on both a 737 and an A320 I prefer the 737 because you can see all the technology of today and still get a notion of aviation in the late sixties.

12 hours ago, Chock said:

...., that I genuinely do suspect the 737's designers at Boeing were indeed looking at the 262's general layout when they came up with their design.

I wonder how good a WWII Luftwaffe camo job on a 737 would look??  

8 hours ago, threegreen said:

 I prefer the 737 because you can see all the technology of today and still get a notion of aviation in the late sixties.

I like the 737 for its windows position from a passenger point of view, a bit bigger in size than the A320.  I like the A320 because of its slightly wider aisle, a plus for narrow body aircraft.  So there are things I like in both.  But I really want to fly an e-jet (17x/19x) someday, because of the high window position and the 2x2 seating, a plus for folks like me who like window seats but also close access to the aisle.  It is the only mainline pax jet I have not flown, other than the earlier Embraer series, in all my travels in the US. 

John

I have flown on JetBlue's E190's.  I found it to be reasonably comfortable.  Maybe not quite as comfy as the MD80, but far better than the sardine can Boeings.

4 hours ago, stans said:

I have flown on JetBlue's E190's.  I found it to be reasonably comfortable.  Maybe not quite as comfy as the MD80, but far better than the sardine can Boeings.

I have yet to see an Embraer plane that was "comfy". I don't know how Jet Blue configures their's, but in Southwest there is plenty of room.

7 hours ago, stans said:

I have flown on JetBlue's E190's.  I found it to be reasonably comfortable.  Maybe not quite as comfy as the MD80, but far better than the sardine can Boeings.

Flown WestJet and boy, was that comfy. So much leg room I was genuinely surprised. 737 that is.

4 hours ago, BillW said:

I have yet to see an Embraer plane that was "comfy". I don't know how Jet Blue configures their's, but in Southwest there is plenty of room.

Southwest doesn't have Embraer.  They are all Boeing.

16 hours ago, BillW said:

I have yet to see an Embraer plane that was "comfy". I don't know how Jet Blue configures their's, but in Southwest there is plenty of room.

I liked the Embraer Propjet puddle jumper, felt it was my fav puddle jumper, aside from maybe the Dash and the Shorts, though the Shorts was slow and flew at a lower altitude.  Also liked the two flights I had on ATR's, one a 42 the other a 72.  Any propjet with a high wing I preferred because they offered better ground views from window seats.  In the case of Embraer, I would always ask and would always receive the window seat in the second row from the back, the best seat in the house, so to speak.  The seats in the B1900 were awful, though leather it felt like I was sitting on rocks, just no cushioning in those seats. 

And I noticed, as time has gone on, cushioning in aircraft seats has lessened, especially for the thigh area which is the worst pressure point in turbulent flying, I feel.  However when I was flying Light Sport aircraft 13 years ago, those aircraft were very comfy and fit me like a glove, even trikes.  But my Allegro 2000 trainer was so low in headroom that during flight I would hit my head hard on the top of the roll cage, hard enough to lose control of the aircraft for a second and see stars to the chagrin of my CFI. 

I was going to purchase an Allegro 2000 from Falcon Aviation, but changed my mind after my final test flight when just light chop gave me a knot on my head the size of a grapefruit.  But my CFI who was trying to hustle the aircraft was kind enough to take my daughter up in her only GA flight to date, in her 20 year life almost.  Instead of buying an aircraft, I bought my lovely ex wife (and I am not saying that sarcastically, even after our divorce she has become a lovely and gracious friend) her dream home, which I gave to her after we separated.  We live almost on the same street, but not quite, she still lives near Luke AFB and I live close to Sky Harbor Airport, in Phoenix.

John

19 hours ago, klamal said:

Southwest doesn't have Embraer.  They are all Boeing.

I know. Delta, United and American do use regional jets of one brand or another. I was comparing them to the 737. In my opinion no regional jet is comfortable. On short flights they are okay. but not great. The major lines try to use them for long range flights in the US. That is a no go for me.

Bill W